Judge reverses motorcyclist’s guilty conviction

Pam has been at the Daily Mercury since March 2013 and has also worked as a journalist in Batemans Bay and Wellington both in NSW. And yes, that does make her a Blues supporter. Growing up she moved around different places including Sydney, Moree, Wollongong and lived for about two years as a high school student on a small island in Micronesia called Pohnpei. Pam loves water sports, including SCUBA diving, snorkelling and kayaking but her awful balance means she’ll never touch a surf board. Ever...

A MOTORCYCLIST previously convicted of driving without due care and attention in the lead-up to a crash in Bundaberg has had his guilty conviction reversed.

A magistrate convicted Ashley David Brown of driving without due care and attention in a crash at the intersection of Fe Walker and Reddan Sts.

Mr Brown originally pleaded not guilty and later appealed the magistrate's decision to convict him.

A District Court judge this week found in Mr Brown's favour and said the magistrate made an error.

In June 2013 a four-wheel drive was turning right into Reddan St when it collided with Mr Brown's bike travelling in the opposite direction.

The driver of the four-wheel drive did not see the motorcycle, court documents said.

Mr Brown was accused of driving without due care because he had allegedly inappropriately overtaken a car on the left, after two lanes merged into one, moments before he was hit.

But in his decision handed down at Bundaberg this week, Judge Michael Rackemann said he could not determine that Mr Brown accelerated at a high speed when overtaking.

He said evidence showed Mr Brown was travelling at about the same speed, or a little more, than the car he was overtaking.

Judge Rackemann said Mr Brown could have breached the law when he overtook on the left hand side after the lanes had merged and continued to accelerate, but did this not justify a charge of driving without due care and attention.

His judgment said the prosecution's case - that Mr Brown was overtaking and speeding in a way that would have prevented him from observing and reacting to things at the upcoming intersection - was difficult to determine without substantial proof.